We’re into the second round of the NFL playoffs and we inch closer to the end of the NFL season. This season has been so unpredictable the first week of the playoffs continued that with the upsets of Seattle over New Orleans and the Jets over the Colts. But now we look at the divisional playoff round.

But now that we’re even closer to the end of the playoffs and another season, the realization of what that means is hitting me. It means no more games in just a few more weeks. No more looking at the numbers and trying to predict who the best fantasy players are. No more fretting over lineup decisions and free agent acquisitions for my fantasy football teams. And like every year, it means a letdown in what we’ve come to be excited about the last 5 months: NFL games on the weekend.

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell has a lot on his mind as the deadline for a new CBA with the NFL players union approaches

And with the collective bargaining agreement seeming no closer to a resolution now than it was a year ago, it means the beginning of fear that we may not have an NFL season in 2011. I certainly have a hard time believing the March 4th deadline is a hard deadline. It was in 2006 the last time we had an issue with the NFL’s Collective Bargaining Agreement with the players and that deadline got extended 3 times as both sides used common sense that a deal needs to be in place for the betterment of all sides: the NFL owners, the NFL players, and the NFL Players union. Doom and gloom was forecasted back then when the agreement didn’t get struck by the first deadline, but a deal still got done eventually.

Usually, after the Super Bowl has been played and a champion crowned, we turn our attention to things like the NFL Scouting combine, free agency, and the NFL Draft. This year, we could be turning our attention to something a bit more unhappy to think about: a work stoppage.